Friction-gearing.



No. 848,593. PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907.

G. B. HATFIELD.

PRIGTION GEARING. APPLICATION FILED an. 26, 1900.

I I l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

I CHARLES n HATFIELD, or

PORATION OF NEW YORK.

' ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HAT- FIELD MOTOR VEHICLE COMPANY, OF CORTLAND,

NEW YORK, A COR- FRlGTlON-GEAFHNG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 26, 1907.

Application filed March 26, 1906. Serial No. 308,045.

T on whom it may CON/(1677b:

Be it known that I, Cniinnns B. My FIELD, a citizen ot'the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State, of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Friction- Gearing and I do h oreby declarethe followto he a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled'inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to friction gearing employed for the transmission of power. As well known to those skilled in this art, such friction-gearing comprises a drivii'1gdisk which is rotated by the engine. A driven wheel is mounted. upon a shaft at right angles to the driving-disk and arranged to he brought into contact with the face of the drivingalisk, whereby the rotations of the drivii1gdisk will rotate the driven wheel, and usually means are provided whereby the driven wheel may be moved along its shaft, by which the point of contact between it and z 5 the driving-disk with relation tothc axis of the driving-disk may vary the speed at which the driven wheel is rotated or to shift the point of contact to one side or the other of the axis. of the driving-disk, whereby to 0 reverse the direction of rotation of the driven wheel. I

The object of my invoi'ition is to construct a irictioingearing in which there shall be no clutch or disconnecting device, thus permit- 5 ting the machine to he stopped at will without the use of extra mechanism, such as clu tches or mechanism for moving the driven wheel toward and from. the driving-disk, greatly simplifying the construction and the 40 case of operation of the mechanism.

' To the above ends my invention consists of the improved friction-gearing which will now he described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l illustrates'in perspective my improved friction-gearing. Fig. 2- shows a vertical section. Fig. 3 shows a view similar. to

Fig. 2, omitting the crank portion of the crank-shaft andv showing a vertical sectional view through the axis of the drivmg-thsk.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged. view of what I will rest.

its rotation therewith.

hereinafter term the floating rest of the driving-disk, the cap-plate being broken away 5 to show its interior construction.

Similar reference characters will be employed throughout the specification and drawings to designate corresponding parts.

A represents the driving-disk, which is connected to a crank-shaft (I, provided with the cranksa, and which shaft is mounted to rotate in any suitable hearings and to be connected and driven from any suitable form of engine. 6 5

Cooperating with the driving-disk A is the driven wheel. B, mounted upon a shaft b, which is supported in suitable hearings in the i arne of the machine and at right angles to the shaft a, as clearly shown in the drawings. The driven wheel B is arranged with such relation to the face of the driving-disk A that its periphery shall he always in contact with the driving-disk A or the floating rest at the center thereof, which will be hereinafter described, and, as usual in gearing of this character, for the purpose of varying the speed of the driven wheel B such wheel is splined upon the shaft 1) or otherwise arranged to be moved by a forked lever b along the shaft 7), whereby the driven wheel B may be moved a greater or less distance away from the axi s of thedriving-disk A or to one side or the other of the axis for the purpose of changing the speed. or reversing the direction oi": irctation of the driven wheel B.

The means for shifting the driven wheel l3 along its shaft 1) and for securing its rotation with the shaft I) need not he more fully described, as it may consist of a usual spline, (such as shown in the drawings,) and the yoke-shifting lover I) or any other suitable mechanism maybe employed for moving the driven wheel B along its shaft and securing in the present invention there is no provision .lor moving the driven wheel ii out of contact with the face of the driving-disk A when it desired to stop the machine without stopping the engine; but I have provided the driving-disk A with a floating rest at its center, which because of the fact that it can remain at rest when the driven wheel B is in contact therewith while the driving-disk A continues to rotate l have termed a float ng T his floating rest (I is circular in is provided sisting .of about form and of a diameter which will permit a suitable bearing-contact of the periphery of the driven wheel B therewith, and it consists of a cap-plate 0, having a flange c and a back plate 0 theedge of the flange a being spun or otherwise turned over the periphery of the back plate 0 so as .to hold the parts together, forming a hollow box, as it were, in such manner, however, that the cap-plate c and its flange 0 may turn with relation to the back plate 0 Within the compartment or box formed by the cap-plate c and the back plate 0 there an ,antifriction bearing which may be either a ball-bearing, such as shown, and consisting of a ring of balls 0 and a ring c, supporting the balls, or it'may consist of any suitable form of roller-bearing, it being only desirable that the floating rest be supported upon some effective antifrictionbearing.

The driving-disk A is provided with a circular recess a at its center of a depth sufficient to receive the floating rest 0, so that the face of the in the plane of The floating rest C maybe secured in the recess a in any desired manner which will permit its free relative turning with relation to the driving-disk A.

As shown in the drawings, I secure the floating rest by means of a screw 0 which passes through a bore c and engages a threaded aperture 0 in the back plate 0 The driving-disk A may be secured to its crankshaft (1 in any suitable manner, as byproviding it with a socket a, which receives the end of the crank-shaft a and is held thereto by means of the'set-screw a.

The periphery of the driven wheel may be provided with any suitable frictional contact-surfacesuch as leather, paper, or other suitable materialand the face of the driving-disk A will preferably be provided with a frictional contact-surface of a suitable aluminium alloy, preferably an alloy connine-tenths aluminium to one-tenth zinc, which alloy I have found to produce a desirable frictional surface. As

cap-plate c of the rest will lie shown in the sectional View, Fig. 3, this fric' tional surface maybe applied by forming a recess d in the face of the driving-disk A, preferably having undercut or beveled edges, into which recess (1 the friction-surface d of the aluminium alloy referred to is poured in molten form and cast therein. This, it will be observed, forms a body of thedisk surface instead of using screws or other extraneous fastening devices for securing it thereto, which screws would be liable to th e'face of the driving-disk A.

gaging the fixed plate close union between the. A and its frictional drivingwork loose and to damage the surface of the driven wheel. It is of course understood that any other suitable means maybe adopted for anchoring the frictional contact-face to the body of the driving-disk A instead of the undercut or beveled edges d, ,it being only desirable to form a permanent union without the necessity of using screws or other extraneous fastening means.

In the operation of my friction-gearing it will be observed that the driven wheel B can be moved across the face of the driving-disk A in the usualmanner for the purpose of varying the speed or reversing the direction of rotation; but it is not necessary to move the driven wheel B away from and out of contact with the driving-disk A when it is desired to stop the movement of the machine without stopping the engine and that by simply.

rest C'the driving-disk A can continue to rotate without imparting any rotation to the driven wheel B and-there will be no liability of the rotations of the driving-disk A to wear flat" places upon the'driven wheel B, such as would occur were it not for the presence of the floating rest C.

Having described my new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States I 1. In power-transmitting mechanism, the combination with a friction driving-disk, of a driven wheel having its peri hery arranged in contact with' and driven y the drivingdisk, a floating rest located at the center of the face of the driving-diskand comprising a plate fixed in a recess in said driving-disk and a cup-shaped plate having its flange ento'turn with relation thereto and inclosing an ahtifriction-bearing, substantially as described.

2'. In power-transmitting mechanism, the combination with .a friction driving-disk, of a driven wheel havin its periphery arranged in'contact with and driven by the drivingdisk, a floating rest located at the center of the face of the driving-disk andcomprising a plate mounted in a recess in said drivingdisk and free to turn therein, an afitifrictionbearing supporting said plate and consisting of a plurality of rolling members arranged in circular formand a ring supporting said rollinvention, Iclaim as 

